Restoration That's Good for the Soul

My husband has painted and new-stickered the 1958 Massey Ferguson tractor that his father gave him (his dad uses the "newer" 1989 tractor down at the old farmstead), making this sweet, hard-working machine look mighty fine.
It's just a reminder, though, that no one is farming anymore. Okay, I know that's not true; lots of people, brave, hardworking, dedicated people, are starting up small farms. Not hobby farms but farms that produce food without big machines or large barns. Visit a farmers' market and buy some of this "homegrown" food to find out why farms, these small farms, are so vital. We get the BEST sausages from our friend, Janet Rose, in Linden. She works so very hard.
We would like to keep a cow and a pig and some meat kings for food but we can't afford to build a small barn for them or better yet, buy the farm next door that's going fallow now that my husband's uncle has retired. And I think of how hard Janet, and Jennifer, and everyone else I know who is doing this small-farm thing works and I think about what an noble life being a farm can be. We can't lose it, we really can't.
Restoring a tractor long-used in the family in "the good old days" is simply a labour of love.

Before:


After: